Now that data is being submitted to Unified Logging and some indexes are setup you are wanting to look at the messages that are sent in. Data Indexes, and to be more precise, indexes without a notification, are shown on the Messages page.

The Messages page is a powerful tool and does a lot so in this post I will attempt to simplify what you are seeing.

Overview of Functions

Clear Layout: Reset column visibility.

Save Layout: Save your column choices. When the column visibility is saved it is saved for that account so whether you are on a phone or a computer your chosen layout will be present.

Choose Columns: Choose the columns you want to see. Most likely you will add data indexes for use in Trends you do not wish to see in the Message page.

Jump to flag: A flag is a point in time, these are very useful for remembering points in time and/or a message for further review.

Exclude/Filter: See the cabin through the forest by removing some trees using the exclude or focus on one area using the filter. This works specifically on data index matches.

Auto Refresh: Refreshes every 20 seconds. Very useful if you have Unified Logging open during the day and you want to messages come through, this works well with the coloring which is covered below.

Refresh: Manual refresh of data that pulls the most recent data to date.

Next/Previous: Enables the user to go back and forth sequentially in time.

Row Coloring

Rows in the grid are colored to easily identify at a glance things you should interest in. Flagged rows are red, notification matches are yellow, and when a link is followed from a notification the row is colored green.

The notification match coloring is very useful when using the auto refresh and enables the user to not focus on their email but rather see a yellow row appear and requires attention.

Grouping

The grid supports grouping by indexes. It can be very useful to group by area of your application or machine and look at messages like that. You can also nest group such as by Machine -> Severity.

Viewing Full Message

By clicking the down arrow you can view the full message. Also notice when viewing the message sent in it uses the same highlighting as in the notification emails for easy identification of match information.

Flag A Point in Time

To flag a point in time simple click the flag next to the message. When it is desired to go back to that point in time use the “jump to flag” drop down to select the flag.